How to Use self-possession in a Sentence

self-possession

noun
  • His self-possession isn’t an act.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026
  • That sense of sort of self-possession is quite admirable and, again, this is so new for the both of us.
    — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2026
  • Claude has gained a devoted following for its strange sense of mild self-possession.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
  • That same self-possession defined her public persona and continues today.
    — Michelle Duncan, Architectural Digest, 8 May 2026
  • Hoodoo’s ancestral beauty rituals remind us of sacred glamour and the magic of self-possession and care.
    — Essence, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The dignity and self-possession of its people inspires dignity and self-possession in its visitors as well.
    — Hanya Yanagihara, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Nov. 2018
  • Earlier works often centered on solitary women posed with the self-possession of royal portraits or religious icons.
    — Jane Horowitz, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026
  • Shawn joins us a moment later, and he is reserved, not hostile but preternaturally wary, measuring out his words with pauses and deference cut with self-possession.
    — Christopher Bonanos, Vulture, 23 Feb. 2026
  • At a time when other leaders prioritized structure, perfection and control — and many still do — Kamali instead built around ease, athleticism and self-possession.
    — Jeetendr Sehdev, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
  • The character’s defiant self-possession would unnerve even a more contemporary patriarchy, and challenge family dynamics in any era.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 14 Aug. 2025
  • But Vacancy, her first record solely under Interscope, doesn't completely abandon the self-possession and sensuality that's become synonymous with her sound.
    — Pitchfork, 23 Jan. 2026
  • This interrupts automatic defensiveness and signals self-possession.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
  • These books are deliciously, counterintuitively ethical—each one an instruction manual on a woman’s process of self-possession—many of them eschewing patriarchal morality and asserting a more dichotomous and sensual set of virtues.
    — Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 14 Nov. 2025
  • On Tuesday, Sasha De Sola, an old pro in the role, danced it with ravishing self-possession, hardly seeming to need the support of her consort Harrison James, who exuded the corn-fed charm of a linebacker while delivering cleanly polished grande pirouettes.
    — Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2026
  • In this way, the film becomes a manifesto for alternate destinies within the Black experience, and a semi-formal goodbye letter to the delusional but politically expedient optimism of the 2010s, wherein the end of the neoliberal order becomes a gateway to renewed self-possession and agency.
    — Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-possession.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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